Arizona weekly citizen., 1887-10-22
CALLERS ON LAWYERS.
THE PRECAUTIONS THAT ARE TAKEN
 AGAINST PORES AND cRANKS. =

How Mistakes Are Sometimes Made.
 People Who Are Hardest to Get Rid oE
 Troublesome women ClIents-Desire
 for Litigation
 People who visit the offices of prominent lawyers find that they are usually cooped up in little dens of their own, and lgby- rinthine passages and inquiSitive clerks bar the way. Those who are known to have important business with the firm are readily admitted to the inner cham Der, but strangers are examined and cross examined and their intentions thoroughly sifted before they can gain access. This exclusiyencss Is a matter of protection, and while the incivility of clerks and middle men may be trying to the temper of person having right in the office, yet such course must be taken or the law yers would have their hands full of busi- ness in which there was no money, and be driven to the verge of suicide by bOres
 ''The reception roOm," said the chief clerk of a large law firm tO a reporter, "has many queer people in it at times. There are a set of cranks of the most an- nOying kind who make the rounds of the leading law firms in the city They are born liticants. Some of them have money; the most of them have none. Whenever a man comes into an office fos the first time and unrolls an old map or any other document with the yellow tinge of age on it the guns are at once trained on him. Mistakes are sometimes made. It does not always do to size up man from appearances. My resignation was asked once because l sat down hard on 8 client who could sign his check for a mill ion but looked like tramp. That's ono serious drawback; milionaires do not al- ways look like it.
 HARD TO GET RID OF.
 "The people who own half the city and cln prove it and those who are interested in inventions and patents are the hardest to get rid of. If they can get hold with an syclid they will never let go. They have plausible stories all, and insist on see- ing the head of the firm. Sometimes they do get an audience, and as long as they pass the outer gate he thinks they are all right and takes an interest in the busi- ness. One smart fellow got us to bring a suit for damages against Q well known business man Our client he'd documen- tary proof that made Q splendid case and would have stood in any court, but when the case came to trial it was shown that the people and facts were drawn from his own imagination and the case was thrown out of court. It wnS the third time he had fooled a lawyer, but as he paid for his fun no hearts were broken.
 "The women clients of this kind are the most troublesome. They insist on seeing the head of the firm without telling their business tO any one else. To tell them Q little lie about his being ont is no good, for they will sit the whole dny, if neceS- sary. tO test the statement There are three or four women who have money and spend their time going the rounds of the prominent lawyers, trying to enlist them in some imaginary suit. They will put up a retainer, if asked to, but woe be to the man who takes it. A trip to Europe is the only means of escape. They will bring suit on the slightest pretense, but usually there is no ground for complaint.
 ''The desire to litigate seems to be over towering One of the women visits the courts regularly, has picked up a good knowledge of law and can ask questions that would make the oldest practitionsr scratch his head. Nearly all these pecul- far people are eccentric or mentally un- sound and most of them really believe that they have been injured and are en- titled to redress. At one time there were several fine looking women who sought to get an audience with first class lawyers as well as business men for blackmailing pur- poses, and it is a rule in some offices that strange women are never seen by any member of the firm except when wit nesses are present It is a peculiar thing that women clients who have legitimate business in court form a violent antipathy against any one who is opposed tO them and do not hesitate to make known their intense hatred by word and mAuner."- New York Tribune